Vampire Diaries: Elena's hunt
by zizi003
Summary: Elena Gilbert is given a huge task to undertake after her parents' tragic car crash- hunt down vampires. But after she killed that last one years ago, they have been no more Vampires in Mystic Falls. Until the Salvatore brothers come back after 15 years. What should Elena do? Follow her mind or her heart?
1. Chapter 1

Elena looked at her clock and groaned. The sun shone through her windows, and she could hear Aunt Jenna swearing in the kitchen below, unsuccessfully trying at pancakes. It was the first day of school, since…. She didn't want to think about it. Or what happened. Now, she had to protect Jeremey from what her parents were protecting her. Vampires. She dropped to her stomach, and crawled under her bed, feeling for the loose floorboard where stakes and other assortments of weapons lie. Just knowing that they were there made her feel safe. Before their deaths, her mother and father had sat down and told her about the other world, the one which Mystic Falls seemed to be an epicentre for, with vampires and werewolves and witches all living in the same space, it called for hunters to keep the peace. She had laughed when they first told her, called them crazy, but soon accepted it, and after she had killed her first vampire, she had believed it, but there had been no vampires in Mystic Falls since.

Her mind flashed back to that night when she had gone to that party. That strange man who had come up to her, told her things which she needed to hear. Told her things that explained why she was no longer in love with Matt. Matt! She groaned at the thought of seeing him. Ever since they broke up, he had been avoiding her. She glanced at the time. "Shit!" Bonnie said that she wanted to meet up with her and Caroline before the start of school. Grabbing items from her desk, she shoved them into her bag, and pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater that she had worn for the third time that week. Fashion will just have to wait. After racing down the stairs, she was half way to the door when Jenna stopped her. "And where do you think you are going?" she demanded, her arms folded, and an eyebrow raised. Elena struggled for words. "I was just, Bonnie wanted, I need to…" she faltered at the hurt expression on her aunt's face. "I'd made breakfast!" she exclaimed, waving a dismal hand at the burnt pancakes and syrup laid on the counter top. Elena hesitated before walking into the kitchen, grabbing pancake and pouring syrup onto it. "There, I can eat on the go." Jenna sighed, and gave a twitch on the lips, the closest thing to a smile. Elena knew that it was hard for her aunt, to have to ditch her life, and raise two kids, one of whom was suffering mood swings, depression and the urge to save the town, and the other was a druggie. She felt guilty. Jenna nodded to the door. "off you go, have a social life, have fun, just be back at home after school. I'll drag your brother to the car in a minute." Elena sighed in relief, the tight knots in her gut easing slightly as she headed out of the door. "I owe you," she called as the door fell shut behind her. As she jumped off the last step on her porch (a habit left over from when she was a kid,) she heard a caw behind her. Turning to see what it was, a huge black crow swept over her head, talons narrowly missing her face. She screamed and ducked. When it had gone, she spun on the spot, and uneasy feeling as if it was watching her- but it was just a bird, she was scared of a bird. Laughing at herself, she began to walk in the direction of her school, but she wasn't wrong. Using the shadows of the trees, a crow began to fly after her, it's eye following her every move carefully.

Seeing her friends in the parking lot of the school made her feel almost like her regular self again. Almost. She could see Caroline's dainty yellow curls bobbing ahead of her, and Bonnie's own hair flowing down her back. She hurried over to join them. "Spending the summer with my dad and his boyfriend was so much fun- they even got me a new car! And look, a decent tan, it was so hot there. Oh, hi Elena!" Elena greeted Caroline with a smile. Caroline was many things, a control freak, competitive, and sometimes a bit of a bitch, but she was also honest and loyal, and one of Elena's best friends. Elena hugged Bonnie, giggling slightly. "Aw, I missed you! Get in here Caroline!" The three of them stood there embracing one another. As they pulled away, Elena and Caroline turned to Bonnie unexpectedly. "So the weirdest thing happened to me over the summer. I was staying with my Grams, and she told me I was a witch. Can you believe that?" Caroline smirked, doubting Bonnie's sudden claim to magic, but Elena snapped to attention. Her mother had warned her about witches. She had said that they were on the side of nature and balance, but did extremes to resolve balance, and then there were the ones who went rouge. "She's lying right, I mean, like, you don't actually believe that you're a witch, right?" Bonnie looked at Elena, surprised by her sudden outburst. "I dunno, I mean, it's supposed to run in the family, so I guess. Anyway, I all know is that I can palm read." Caroline laughed, her eyes sparkling, "why Elena, you think she's going to do her magic juju on you?" Elena stuck her tongue out jokingly, and Caroline thrust-ed her hand under Bonnie's nose. "Well, go on. If you can palm read, what's my future?" Bonnie studied Caroline's hand, frowning with confusion and concentration. "Whatever choice you make, you'll die young, but live a fulfilled and long life. I don't understand. How can you live a long life if you die young?" Caroline shrugged, evidently sceptical of Bonnie's abilities. "Your go Elena," Elena held out her hand to Bonnie, who took it. She stared at it for a moment, before dropping it like it burnt her. "Bonnie, what's wrong? Are you ok?" Bonnie offered a watery smile, her face pale and frightened. "There's a lot of death in your future Elena. And two strangers, alike in blood, but one is filled with sorrow, the other with grief. Whatever you do Elena, could impact everything. And there's a bird, a raven? No, a crow. Don't trust the crow. It's important for you not to trust the crow." There was a sudden flapping of wings, and a dark shape soared over head. "Is that a..?" started Bonnie, her eyes wide with shock. Elena nodded numbly. "Creepy!" Exclaimed Caroline, staring after the huge crow. She turned on her heel, and marched towards the main doors of Mystic Falls High School. The parking lot had begun to fill with students and cars, and after a quick glance at each other, Bonnie and Elena ran after Caroline.

Elena stood in the middle of the corridor wondering why it was taking forever to get past the immense group of girls crowding in front of the reception. She spotted Bonnie, and waved, weaving and squeezing until she stood next to her. "What's all this? I need to get into reception to sign up for this year's cheer try outs!" Bonnie grinned, "hot new boy obviously, though no one can get a good look because of all these." She gestured to the crowd in front. Elena rolled her eyes, and the bell rang for the start of class. A teacher marched out and shooed them all away. Bonnie grumbled. "I didn't even get a good look, just his back. It is a hot back though." They giggled, and hurried to history.

Elena sat in history blocking out the sound of the teacher droning on, and on, and on…. This may be her own literal hell. "Elena Gilbert, since you are so clearly paying attention, can you possibly answer my question?" Elena glanced at her notes, but her notebook was empty. Sighing she picked up her pen, and faced the teacher. "Sorry sir," she mumbled. The teacher smirked, and left Elena alone to pick on another unaware student. Elena turned to Bonnie who shrugged, and then faced the board to copy notes.

After class, Elena waited for Bonnie, and were about to leave when she was called back by Mr Tanner. "Elena, I know that you have been through a tough time, and I have been cutting you slack, but you really need to get back in the game, and concentrate more. This unacceptable, and you are a bright student. I'm going to give you one more chance, but after this, there will be consequences." Elena sighed and nodded. It had been like this with a lot of her teachers recently, and her grades were starting to slip. She left the classroom with promises of doing better, and looked around for Bonnie. The hallway was empty, and cursing, Elena headed for the canteen. She was half way there, when she remembered that she still hadn't signed up for try outs. She turned on her heel, and almost collided with the person behind her. "Whoa! Watch out!" yelled Elena. She stooped to pick up her bag which must have fallen off her shoulder in the rush. As she stood up, she was face to face with a tall boy. He had a lean build, with evidence of muscles under his shirt. His hair was a sandy brown blonde colour, and he was staring so intently at her, she could see the flecks of gold in the bronze of his eyes. "Kathrine?" he asked. Elena, tensed her shoulders a little. This wasn't the first time she had been called Kathrine. Her mind wondered back to before the crash, when the stranger had called her Kathrine. "No, I'm Elena, Elena Gilbert." The boy stood still for a minute, clearly embarrassed about mistaking her. "I'm sorry." Elena rubbed the back of her neck, uncomfortable about the awkwardness between them. she shuffled past him, and out of the corner of her eye saw his reflection in the window. Dark lines seemed to spread across his face, and his eyes were darkening. She turned around and called out to him. "Hey, are you ok?" He turned around, shaken by the sudden exclamation. Elena gasped, the air being knocked out of her lungs, his face had dark veins spreading across like cracked glass, and his eyes were red, two razor sharp fangs pierced his bottom lip. Elena backed away, getting ready to run. She turned, but his was there, in front of her, a finger to his lips, his eyes panicking. "Shush, it's ok. Don't scream, don't move until I say so. You'll forget what you just saw, and you'll forget me. You won't notice me, you won't want to know me, you'll ignore me in the future. You can go." After that, he vanished. Elena felt sick, as she continued walking to reception. She thought back to the last time she had vervain. She had put in the syrup a few days ago, the same one she had on her pancakes this morning. This was good, because she would need a lot more of it now that she knew someone had tried to compel her. That also made her certain of another thing. There were vampires once more in Mystic Falls.


	2. Chapter 2

Elena walked into the cafeteria on auto pilot. She could see Bonnie and Caroline beckoning her over to the same table the sat on since they joined the school. At first it had just been the three of them, but as they gained more and more popularity, the table had become more crowed. Elena stood expectedly, and Caroline coughed. They group parted like the red sea, and a cheerleader gave up her seat for her to sit down. Elena put her head in her hands, sighing and picking at her salad despairingly. For one fleeting moment, she thought that the only guy she had liked since Matt might have been into her. She looked up, to see everyone staring at her. "What? Have I got salad stuck in my teeth again?" Elena covered her mouth with her perfectly manicured hand, very self-aware, her cheeks blushing a pale pink. Bonnie shook her head and laughed, brightening the mood of the table. "Earth to Elena? Caroline asked if you were going up for Miss Mystic Falls?" Elena hesitated. That was something that she had only ever discussed with her mother, the application was sat on her desk at home, gathering dust as it waited to be posted. It was the very last thing that her mother and she did together. Elena nodded decidedly, "yeah, it's what my mom would've wanted." Caroline perked up, a grin spreading across her face. "Good, because I need you to go dress shopping with me." Bonnie scoffed, her eyes popping out of her head.

"Caroline Forbes, I cannot believe you sometimes!" Caroline shrugged, but Elena knew that they had lost her. Once Caroline was on a task, she did not stop until it was done. Elena smiled to herself. She knew Caroline since forever, and that Caroline was secretly trying to help. She just wasn't very good at it, that was all.

"Hey, do any of you know a Kathrine?" Elena asked, interrupting the flow of speech surrounding her. Caroline chewed her lip in thought. "No, why you ask?" Elena shrugged dismissively. "No reason, someone must have gotten the wrong person by mistake." There was a silence in the room, and Elena turned, intrigued to see what was happening to quieten an entire school. The table behind her sat the 'hot back,' that Bonnie had so eloquently said. Caroline sat up to attention, like a bloodhound that had just caught a scent. "Hello hottie! And who do we have here? Hey, Elena, go say hi." Elena shuddered. The very thought of Caroline speaking so loving of _him_ made her feel sick. Anyway, she had the pretence of compulsion to uphold. The urge to snap a chair leg in half and drive it through his heart was overwhelming, but she resisted. Let Caroline do her thing- she would be bored by the end of the day, Elena reassured herself. "No, I'm okay, you do it Care." With that, she pushed away her chair, and was almost out of ear shot when she heard Caroline's sickly sweet voice say, "and there's a bonfire party at the pit you can come to too."

Elena sank to the grass and lay a hand on the gravestone of her parents. "Hey mom, hey dad." She closed her eyes and imagined she was home, her mom would be cooking pasta, hair falling out of her messy bun as the steam from the boiling water covered her face her dad on the sofa, his feet on the coffee table, tie half undone watching Jeremy play on the x-box, and beer in his hand, a small smile playing on his lips. She took a deep breath and could smell her mum's perfume, her dad's cologne. Within an instant, it all disappeared, and the comforting picture of home was ruined. The reality of it all came rushing back. She was sat on the sun-dried grass, her back leaning on the hard slab of granite immortalising their death. A small tear slipped from under her eyelid, scaring her cheek as it slid down her face. She glanced at her watch and cursed. Jenna had asked that she would be back straight after school, and it was almost an hour after what she had promised. Picking herself up, and brushing herself down, Elena turned back to her parents. "Bye mom, bye dad, love you." She headed off, down the path through the woods that would lead her to back into the town. As soon as she set off, a thick mist began to roll in, slowly engulfing anything in its path, wrapping itself around her ankles. Elena's pace quickened, as she sped along the path, a chill freezing her stomach, raising all the hairs along her arms. A twig snapped behind her and she stopped, fear turning into terror as she continued to search the fog. "Who's there?" She manged to stammer at last. She felt something touch her arm, clinging onto her wrist, and dragging her back. Immediately training kicked in, and Elena struggled with all her might, pulling herself away from what had her. She screamed, and yelled, until whatever had her let go, and she ran at full pelt, straight into someone else.

Elena sat up groggily, one hand on her head, another searching for her bag, not knowing where she had dropped it. "Here," came a voice, helping her to her feet. Elena froze, rooted to the spot. She knew exactly whose body that belonged to, and her whole body tensed. "Stefan, thanks." She replied coldly, taking the bag from him uneasily. No compulsion was going to have to help her with that. He frowned at her confused, but evidently not enough to be concerned, because at last, he asked, "what are you doing out here? Bit of a walk, isn't it?" Elena shrugged, her fingers closing around a pencil in her bag. "You ok? I heard screaming, and it looked like you were in trouble." Elena swallowed, her throat tightening. With her other hand, she gestured into the distance. "The, er, fog. It was freaking me out, and I think that someone was chasing me." Her distraction had the desired effect. As Stefan turned to look for what was following her, she stabbed him in the shoulder with the pencil. He fell to the floor in pain, and Elena ran.

Elena had no idea where she was going, she ran blindly through the forest, stumbling and tripping over every tree root in her path. Something appeared out of thin air, squeezing tightly onto her shoulders. "Hey, hey it's ok, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." Elena stooped struggling, face to face with Stefan. He let go of her arms, hands held in front of him like he was surrendering. Elena took two steps back, her face twisted in disgust. "I should kill you while I still have the chance." Stefan nodded, folding his arms across his chest, leaning against the trunk of a tree. "True, but first, I have questions." Elena laughed harshly, her eyebrows raised. "Oh yeah? Me first. Give me one reason why I shouldn't stake you here and now." Stefan chuckled.

"I'm only visiting Mystic Falls. I have, family connections here. I won't kill anyone, I promise, I'm on what my kind call a vegetarian diet." Elena frowned, stepping closer towards Stefan. "What?" Stefan winced, rubbing his shoulder a little.

"I only drink the blood of animals." Elena cocked her head to the left, imaging him doing this. "Okay, what are you 'visiting' in Mystic Falls?" Stefan stood up straighter, unfolding his arms. "I have a great, great, great, and possibly another great nephew living in the Salvatore boarding house. He's having a little bit of trouble with money, so I'm chipping in, on the condition that I stay there for a while." Elena eyed Stefan up and down, a spark of trust spreading in her chest. "A Salvatore? Really? Wow, never thought I would kill one of them!" Stefan backed up. "Whoa, who said anything about staking. Now, I answered your questions, you answer mine. Who are you?" Elena, rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. "Elena Gilbert. My mother and father were part of the council, formed years ago, by whom I assume is your father. Giuseppe Salvatore. A vampire hunter." Stefan stood there, stunned by the new information. "I had no idea that the Council was still going. Wow." He laughed, but stopped, moving closer towards Elena.

"So, earlier today, with the compulsion. That didn't affect you? You knew what I was?" Elena nodded mutely. Stefan gasped, rubbing his hands together. "Perfect. You can help me." Elena raised her eyebrows, disbelief clear on her face. "Help you? Why would I help you?" Stefan smiled knowingly.

"You're going to help me kill my brother."


	3. Chapter 3

Elena marched past Stefan, scoffing slightly at his ridiculous accusation. "I am not going to kill your brother. Your brother, your problem." Stefan appeared beside her, jogging every now and again to keep up. "It'll be your problem if he starts eating people." Elena shook her head, a determined look in her eyes. "How do you even know that your brother is here? Let's face it, there hasn't been anyone who had dealt with a sudden loss in blood in the last couple of days, or any unexplained animal attacks. And I have more important things to do other than kill your brother!" Stefan snorted, a grin stretching from ear to ear. "Oh yeah? Like what?" Elena stopped, chewing her lip in thought, her mind blank. "Aha! Miss Mystic Falls is coming up. I need to focus on that and school work." Stefan laughed out loud. "What?!" Elena shouted, fed up of him following her. "what, is so hilarious about that?" Stefan shook his head, still chuckling.

"I have met many vampire hunters in my time, and you have to be the most unusual of them all. You kind of remind me of Buffy."

"Buffy? Buffy! BUFFY?!" Elena stuttered and stammered, looking for the right words to say. "look, why don't you leave me alone, and I'll think about it. OK?" Stefan shrugged, a mischievous glint in his eye. "you'll see that I'm right. Eventually."

"Mmhm? Yeah, you're right. I'll kill what'shisface your brother on my magical flying unicorn, and have tea with the queen of England afterwards. Good bye Stefan." With that Elena hurried off, leaving Stefan at the edge of the woods, blending into the shadows.

"what time do you call this? I have been out of my mind with worry Elena!" Elena closed the door behind her, cursing under her breath. Of course, Aunt Jenna was there. Yelling at her. For being late. Again. "Look, I'm sorry Jenna, I just got caught up on the way home." Jenna raised a sceptical eyebrow, arms crossed. "Well, I thought we could have a family night? Like watch a movie or something. I, mean, if you want? I've got ice-cream." Elena bit her lip, wincing at the guilty rush all over her body. "I promised Bonnie and Caroline that I would go to the bonfire party tonight. Sorry." Jenna's arms dropped, a sudden frown coming over her face. "right, no of course. It's important for you have to have a life. Well, I'll leave some dinner in the oven for you." Elena pushed past her Aunt, and was halfway up the stairs when she turned around. "Hey, Jenna? I'm going shopping Saturday afternoon, but in the morning, could you help me pick out some dress ideas?" jenna's face lit up at the prospect, and nodded. "Sure, I'd love that." Elena smiled to herself, and ran up the stairs, and into her room to get ready for the party.


End file.
